


Not Just A River In Egypt

by HawthorneWhisperer



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Ficlet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-24
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-17 01:15:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4646856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HawthorneWhisperer/pseuds/HawthorneWhisperer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raven Reyes is dating Bellamy Blake.</p><p>Clarke Griffin wishes she wasn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> marycontrary82‘s birthday is today, and she requested “Why do you have to be dating my best friend?” (And before anyone asks, yes, there will be two more parts.) This is a little too long for a drabble, but a little too short for a oneshot. Happy Birthday, Mary, and thanks for being such a wonderful human being.

The first time Clarke met Bellamy, her heart sank into her stomach and she had no idea why.  He was waiting at a high-top table near the bar and she quickly picked him out of the crowd thanks to Raven’s oddly accurate description ( _dark hair and a face that will make you angry and horny at the same time_ ).  He recognized her just as quickly and waved her over.  “Raven just texted--she got hung up at work, but she’s heading out soon.  I’m Bellamy, the not-boyfriend.”

“I figured.  Clarke, Raven’s best friend,” she replied.  Clarke was well aware of Raven’s tendency to downplay her relationships--she had not had an official boyfriend since Finn three years ago, something that rankled more than one guy vying for the position.  It didn’t seem to bother Bellamy though, which was a strong point in his favor.  They slipped into an easy conversation about his work and her art and by the time Raven wove her way through the crowd, Clarke had decided she was going to be talking to her friend about upgrading Bellamy from not-boyfriend to, at the very least, maybe-boyfriend.

“Sorry I’m late, dudes.  Wick was being a fucking moron and I had to fix it,” Raven explained, and Clarke’s heart did that funny swooping thing again when Bellamy pressed a kiss to Raven’s temple in hello.  “I see you two have met.”

Within minutes, Clarke’s mood had soured for no particular reason, but she forced herself to stay and make small talk with Raven and Bellamy.   _He’s good for you,_  she texted Raven later.   _You should consider letting this one stick around._

She meant it, too.  Bellamy and Raven had an easy way about them that she admired, especially after the intensity of her relationship with Lexa.  When that crashed and burned, Raven was the one by her side for weeks when the most Clarke could do was force herself out of bed to marathon  _House Hunters_.  Raven was the one that finally coaxed her out of her apartment, and Raven was the one who set up her OKCupid account when Clarke decided she was finally ready to venture back into the world of dating.  (She deleted it within 48 hours thanks to far too many unsolicited offers for threesomes, but she appreciated Raven’s ambition.)

They had only been friends for three years, but Clarke couldn’t imagine life without Raven Reyes.  She never would have guessed it the day she met her, that awful day when Clarke was lounging on Finn’s couch, her head on his shoulder, and Raven knocked on his door to surprise him with the news she’d gotten a job in their town.  

Clarke had seen the panic on his face and the confusion on Raven’s when Finn opened the door, so she covered for him and told Raven she was just a friend dropping off a book he’d loaned her.  She didn’t think Raven believed her, but even though her heart cracked when she figured out who Raven was (and who that made her), she couldn’t bring herself to set off that bomb.

Raven was the one who tracked her down three weeks later.   _I want to know what you knew_ , she said bluntly.  Clarke let her into her studio-slash-apartment and told her the whole story over a bottle of tequila.  They considered banding together like wronged women from a romantic comedy, but in the end all they did was get drunk and cry on each others’ shoulders.  They had both loved him, after all.

So Clarke was happy for Raven.  She really was.  Bellamy seemed to understand Raven, and what’s more, he didn’t push for something she wasn’t ready for.  He respected her, and Clarke loved him for it.

But she was utterly unprepared for Bellamy to knock on her door late one friday night, half-drunk and looking for Raven.  “She here?” he mumbled as she let him in.  “I thought she might be  here.”

“Haven’t seen her all day,” Clarke admitted.  “What’s going on?”

“We fought.  Or got drunk and then fought,” Bellamy explained.  “She left and won’t answer my texts.”

Clarke frowned and pulled out her phone, worried.

_Clarke Griffin_

_10:21pm_

_Where are you?  Not-Boyfriend is here and says you fought.  You okay?_

_Raven Reyes_

_10:23pm_

_Why the fuck is he there and yeah we fought whatever im fine_

_Clarke Griffin_

_10:23pm_

_Really?  Because you don’t really sound fine.  Where are you?  I’ll come get you._

_Raven Reyes_

_10:24pm_

_Im at a bar and wick id here.  Make sure you tell bellmy that sinc he fucking hates wick_

 

Clarke looked up at Bellamy, who was now sitting at her kitchen table, his head in his hands.  “So what did you fight about?”

“Lots of shit.  Wick, mostly.  You got any whiskey?”

“Just tequila.”  Clarke stood on her tiptoes and pulled down the bottle and two shot glasses.

They tossed their shots back and Bellamy sighed.  “Is she okay?”

“She is,” Clarke confirmed, leaving out the detail about Wick.  Just then, her phone beeped.

 

_Raven Reyes_

_10:27pm_

_you never said why the fuck hes with you_

_Clarke Griffin_

_10:27pm_

_He’s looking for you like a goddamn lost puppy._

_Raven Reyes_

_10:28pm_

_fine keep him there ill be over when i dont wanr to killl him_

 

“She’ll come over when she’s cooled down,” Clarke told him.

“She’s with him, isn’t she?”

Clarke wordlessly poured him another shot, not willing to lie to him but unable to sell out the woman who had been at her side for some of the worst moments of her life.  “He’s just a friend,” Clarke said a little lamely.  They both clearly knew that Raven’s feelings toward Wick were, in a word, complicated.  Clarke understood her impulse to stick with Bellamy--Raven was nothing if not loyal--but for months she’d been noticing the way Raven’s eyes would light up when Wick texted, or the way she was constantly ragging on him.  That was her tell: the meaner she was, the more Raven was fighting herself.  She took another shot, because the sadness in Bellamy’s eyes was tugging on something deep inside of her.

Something she would never acknowledge, because Raven was always going to come first.

“It’s my fault.  We were just hanging out and I made a joke about her keeping me as her not-boyfriend because she wanted to reserve the boyfriend title for Wick,” Bellamy said.

Clarke raised her eyebrows.  “That’s not very funny.”

“I know.  And it wasn’t exactly a joke.”  He motioned for her to pour him another shot, and she threw one back herself as well.  “I was picking a fight.  I know we’re supposed to be casual, but...my sister is always calling me a possessive jackass.  And she’s not wrong.”

“So you wanted to see if you were right.  About Wick.”

Bellamy pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes.  “Pretty much.  I just wish--if she wants out, she can just tell me.”

“I don’t know if she does want out,” Clarke said honestly.  “She cares about you.  I know that.”

“Not in the way I want.”

His words landed like a punch to her gut.  “Well, we don’t always get what we want,” she snapped, inexplicably angry.

“Thanks for the newsflash, princess,” he growled back.  His dark eyes flashed with an anger that mirrored her own.  “But I’m pretty used to it. Unlike you.”

“What the fuck?”

Bellamy rolled his eyes.  “When was the last time you didn’t get exactly what you wanted?”

“Right now.”  The tequila was making her reckless, but she didn’t care.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means you. I want  _you_ , and it means I wish you weren’t dating my best friend, and I wish I didn’t have to sit here and comfort you because you’re dating my  _best fucking friend.”_

Bellamy’s face went pale and Clarke pushed back from the table just as someone knocked on the door.  “He’s all yours,” she practically yelled at Raven and brushed past her, grabbing the keys to the roof.

Raven found Clarke up there almost an hour later, desperately wiping the tears from her cheeks.  “You’re gonna freeze to death,” she called.  “It’s over,” she added, wobbling slightly as she walked over to where Clarke sat huddled against a wall.  “It’s safe for you to--what the fuck?” Raven stopped when she noticed the dampness on Clarke’s face.  “What the fuck did he--oh fuck, no.  No.  Tell me I’m imagining things.”

Clarke looked up, fully intending to lie, to say that she was upset about something else, but she had never been able to lie to Raven.  “I’m sorry,” she said instead.  “God, I’m so, so sorry.”  

The tears started again and Raven sank to the ground next to her.  “Fuck, Clarke.  Really?  Him too?”

“I tried not to.  You’ve got to know that.  I didn’t want to, and nothing--nothing’s happened.  He isn’t Finn, and I’d never do that to you.  He didn’t even know.  God, I’m so fucking sorry.”  

Raven sighed.  “I’m sure you are.  It doesn’t really matter now.”  Clarke looked at her friend and saw the sadness etched on her face.  “We’re through.”

“Because of Wick?”

“I don’t know.  I mean, yeah, that’s why we’re done, but I just--I don’t know about Wick.  Bellamy asked me point blank if I’d rather be with him, and…”

“...and?” Clarke prompted.

“And I couldn’t answer.  Because I don’t fucking know.  Bellamy’s great, you know?  It’s easy with him.  He doesn’t always get me, but he lets me be me.  And Wick--fuck, it’s just too much.  I can’t.”

Clarke tentatively leaned her head against Raven’s shoulder.  “You deserve it, though.  You and Bellamy are good, but not if you’re with him because you don’t think you deserve something great.”

Raven snorted.  “You sound just like him.  That’s exactly what he said.”  She rested her cheek on the top of Clarke’s head and let Clarke tangle their fingers together.  “So Bellamy, huh?  How long?”

“I don’t know,” Clarke sniffled.  “Awhile.  I mean it though, nothing happened.  And it’s just me, not him.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Raven said quietly.  “I was pretty pissed when you said he was here.  I just thought, of course he fucking is.  And then the way he was looking at you when you left--I wouldn’t be so sure it’s just you,” she repeated.

Clarke squeezed Raven’s hand.  “It doesn’t matter.  I won’t go after him.  You mean more to me than he ever could.”

Raven snorted again.  “Or you could go out with him and just make a career out of having my sloppy seconds.”

Clarke elbowed her in the stomach.  “You’re disgusting.”

“I’m disgusting?  You’re the one salivating over my leftovers,” Raven teased.

Clarke threw her arms around Raven and kissed her cheek.  “I love you, Reyes.”

Raven returned her hug.  “Love you too, Griffin.”


	2. Chapter 2

Clarke scanned the gallery as the last few stragglers started heading out.  Her friends had all left about an hour ago–she’d insisted they not spend the night standing around her paintings, loudly talking about how much they would pay for one– and once everyone was gone, she could head home and have a much needed glass of wine.  Just when she decided that she could safely leave, a familiar mop of dark curls walked through the gallery door and Clarke’s heart fell down a flight of steps.

She hadn’t seen him since the night Raven and he broke up when she drunkenly blurted out her feelings for him and bolted.  Bellamy had his hands stuffed in his pockets and he glanced around the wide, open space like he was looking for someone.  Clarke clenched her jaw, because it seemed somehow fitting that after not seeing him for six months, she would have to watch him on a date with yet another person.  At least this person would probably be a stranger and Clarke could go home and get raging drunk without having to feel guilty about disliking a completely blameless stranger.

Clarke kept her eyes averted and started to hurry out when Bellamy called out her name.  She stopped and turned reluctantly, hoping she wouldn’t blush.  “Hey,” he said a little uncertainly as he half walked, half jogged across the white marble floor to her.

“Hey,” Clarke replied.  She twisted her fingers together and shifted from foot to foot.

“You look good.”  Bellamy rubbed the back of his neck and looked around.  “Raven texted.  She told me you were here.”

“Oh.”

A tiny smile played at the corner of his lips.  “She also said she was sick of both of us being too noble to do anything about our feelings and informed me that if I didn’t show up tonight, she would hunt me down and kill me.”

Clarke grinned.  “That sounds like my girl.”

Bellamy beamed back at her and once more, her heart tripped.  “Want to go get a drink when this is over?”

“I’d love to.  Give me a minute to grab my things?”

“I’ll be here.”

Clarke closed the staff room door behind her and fished her phone out of her purse.

 

_Clarke Griffin_

_9:54pm_

_You’re sure?_

_Raven Reyes_

_9:55pm_

_Oh my god I will murder you both_

_Raven Reyes_

_9:55pm_

_Do you really think I would send him over there if I wasn’t sure of course I’m fucking sure_

_Raven Reyes_

_9:55pm_

_Now stop feeling guilty and go get laid_

 

Clarke pulled her purse over her shoulder, smiled to herself, and headed back to where Bellamy was waiting.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I'd offer you breakfast but I think I'm too sore to move," was requested by gettingcozywithtposey and two anons.

Clarke’s teeth bumped against Bellamy’s as they stumbled inside her apartment, kicking the door shut behind them.  Bellamy started to peel her jacket off her shoulders but with her pinned to the door he couldn’t get it all the way off.  Clarke shrugged out of it and pushed him backwards, slipping her hands underneath the hem of his shirt and feeling the play of muscles underneath his skin.  He attached his lips to the soft spot underneath her ear. “God I’ve wanted this for so long,” he murmured in her ear when they broke apart.

Clarke nipped at his bottom lip and smiled as she let go. “Me too.”  It had been three months since he surprised her at the gallery, but after that first date, they decided to take it slow.  Clarke had several long conversations with Raven about him, but even though Raven swore each time she was more than okay with them dating, Clarke still held back a little.  Bellamy seemed to understand, but after months of meeting for drinks (which always turned into making out against her car) she got tired of waiting and asked him to come home with her.

Bellamy kissed her jaw and together, they tripped and fumbled toward her bedroom, where quiet giggles and shy smiles soon turned to gasps and moans and one long, keening cry that left Clarke devoutly glad she didn’t have a roommate.

He was already awake the next morning when Clarke finally opened her eyes.  Bellamy smiled softly at her and she grinned back.  “I’d offer to make you breakfast, but after last night I think I’m too sore to move,” she teased.

In one swift movement Bellamy pulled himself on top of her.  “Can’t say I’m sorry about that.”  He kissed her neck, down to her shoulder and Clarke widened her legs to let him settle into the cradle of her hips.  “I’m good with just cereal though, if you have it.”

Clarke wrapped her arms around his neck.  “I thought you might want to just stay in here all day,” she said.

Bellamy nipped at her shoulder playfully.  “I do.  But I have a feeling you’ll need your strength.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rashaka suggested a Bellamy POV and it was such a great idea I just had to do it.

Bellamy scrubbed a hand over his face as the cool night air soothed his flushed skin and pulled out his phone.

 

_Bellamy Blake_

_11:21pm_

_Could you come pick me up?  Too drunk to drive and I can’t stay here._

_Nathan Miller_

_11:23pm_

_Another fight with the not-girlfriend?_

_Bellamy Blake_

_11:23pm_

_She’s definitely not my girlfriend anymore.  But yeah._

_Nathan Miller_

_11:24pm_

_I take it you’re at her place?_

_Bellamy Blake_

_11:24pm_

_No.  I’m outside Clarke’s.  Corner of 12th and Walnut._

 

A text bubble hovered on his screen for far too long for the response that eventually appeared.

 

_Nathan Miller_

_11:25pm_

_Be there in ten._

 

 

Bellamy made his way to a bus stop bench near the corner and rested his elbows on his knees.  Ending things with Raven hadn’t been a surprise, but he was still worn out.  If he was honest with himself, he’d known where things were going from the second his jibe about Wick left his mouth, but that didn’t make it any easier.

Being with Raven was never supposed to be difficult.  That was their whole deal–being easy.  They understood each other, and when Raven told him on their third date that she didn’t do the whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing anymore but she was willing to be exclusive, he barely even blinked.  And two weeks later when she told him her reason for avoiding labels (involving her almost-fiance and her now-best friend Clarke) he understood her perfectly.  The sex was good, she was funny, and they got along with each other’s friends.  In short, everything was great.

Except.

Bellamy had spent the better part of his twenties working on handling his jealousy, and he was proud to say when Raven started telling him work stories about Wick, it didn’t make his stomach coil into a pit of snakes.  He laughed at Wick’s supposed incompetence right along with her, even though he knew most the stories were probably overblown, judging by the affection in her voice.  But then he met Wick and saw the way the other man looked at his not-girlfriend.  _Fine, so he’s in love with Raven.  Who wouldn’t be?_  he thought that night, watching them banter about some engineering problem he couldn’t quite follow.  So he turned to Clarke instead (because Clarke never used terms he didn’t understand) and asked if she’d had any luck finding a gallery to show her art.   _Not yet, but things should be quieting down at the hospital next week and I’ll have more time to try and network,_  she explained, and off they went.  He only realized when he was driving Raven home later that he had spent the whole night talking to Clarke while she talked to Wick.

That night was the first time they fought about Wick, but it wasn’t the last.  And tonight, when Raven stormed out of her apartment and didn’t come back, he didn’t really have to guess who she was with.  But that didn’t stop him from walking the five blocks to Clarke’s apartment.  He told himself he was looking for Raven, but really he knew it was over–and if it was over, that meant this was his last chance to see Clarke. (The moment that thought crossed his mind, he resolved to end things with Reyes that night.)  

Miller pulled up next to the bus stop in his black honda and waited for Bellamy to climb in.  “You okay, man?” he asked as they waited at a red light.

Bellamy shrugged and kept his eyes out the window.  “Fine, I guess.  We both knew this was coming.”

“So what ended it?  Wick or Griffin?”

Bellamy snapped his head towards his friend.  “What?  What does Clarke have to do with this?”

Miller sighed and shifted into gear as the light changed.  “You really pretending you didn’t pick all those fights about Wick to cover up the fact that you’re sort of into her best friend?”

“Fuck you,” Bellamy grumbled and studied his fingernails.  “It was never about Clarke.  Or Wick.  We just didn’t work.”

Miller clucked his tongue.  “And the fact that Clarke is totally into you doesn’t factor into this at all?”

Clarke’s pale face flashed in front of his eyes.   _I want you, and it means I wish you weren’t dating my best friend, and I wish I didn’t have to sit here and comfort you because you’re dating my best fucking friend._  “She’s not,” Bellamy lied.  “And even if she was, it would never happen.  She’d never do that to Raven.  And neither will I.”

“But if it’s over…”

“Drop it,” Bellamy snapped.  “It’s not happening.  Ever.”

He meant it, too.  Bellamy deleted Clarke’s number from his phone and did his best to forget her.  Six months later, he was out running errands ( _on a friday night like a goddamn loser,_  Octavia had sneered) when his phone beeped with a text from Raven.

_Raven Reyes_

_9:14pm_

_Clarke’s gallery opening is tonight.  You should go.  I know she’d love to see you there_

 

Bellamy stared at his phone in the middle of the cereal aisle for a full three minutes, wondering how to respond.

 

_Bellamy Blake_

_9:17pm_

_Are you sure?  That wouldn’t be weird for you?_

_Raven Reyes_

_9:17pm_

_You’ve been inside of me of course it will be fucking weird_

_Raven Reyes_

_9:17pm_

_But Clarke is my best friend in the whole goddamn world and she’s miserable_

_Raven Reyes_

_9:17pm_

_And you like her and she likes you but you’re both too goddamn noble to do anything about it and I’m sick of it_

_Raven Reyes_

_9:18pm_

_So get your ass to the arcadia gallery on 34th and washington and ask her on a goddamn date before I hunt you down and murder you_

A tiny smile crept across Bellamy’s face and he headed toward the checkout aisle, even though he wasn’t quite finished shopping.

That could wait, but he couldn’t.


End file.
